Session XII - Prophecy
6th-8th of Tororima, 560 AL
Before leaving the village, the party returns to Grogli to ask for a final bit of advice. They want to implant the magical eye that they took from Gale, but they need some kind of surgeon to do so. The chieftain refers them to Saga Brineroot of Attjandi, who should be able to help them with the endeavor.
The party leaves Lausang and dumps the lifeless bodies of their enemies Donovan and Gale outside of the village. Melinoe casts speak with dead on Donovan's corpse. The aarakocra's body tells them that he grabbed Gale because "the kid's soul would find its way back to its body." He adds that Gale is "fucked".
Flint senses that Gale is undead. They also see a fleeting apparition moving through the woods nearby as they approach Gale's body. The figure in the woods utters a terrible moaning sound. Strangely, though the party is on high alert, the figure in the woods appears only in Flint's mind.
Melinoe again casts speak with dead, this time on Gale's body. Some kind of terrible magic takes hold of the spell and it overrides Melinoe's control of the spell. Despite Gale's undead nature, the spell succeeds.
The body speaks freely.
Gale screams that "it" will take over his body if his soul is not returned to it. He explains that his body will accept necromantic spells more readily. Even a revivify would work now, despite being outside of the normal time range for the spell. The party presses him further, asking for his motives. He simply explains that he made a pact with an entity for power. Its condition was the victory of Zivilon in the war and the destruction of its enemies.
After much deliberation and hesitation, Strattora resurrects Gale with revivify. Though the spell's window has elapsed, she is able to revive him just as he said. The party immediately questions him and he reveals much of the background of his power.
Gale made a pact with the "Unnumbered Fallen" beneath the city of Zivilon. It is the war dead. It is an amalgamation of those buried beneath the sky-city, dropped into a pile in an endless sea.
With that information, the party ties him up and takes him with them as they travel to the Norns of Thrahin. A nearby rookery holds the grot-bats that the chieftain told them would be theirs to fly eastwards. They take with them three giant bats and fly over the valley to the east.
Over the day, the party flies their bats dozens of miles towards the eastern riverbank. They notice that the chieftain's assessment of the eastern lands was correct: they would be no trouble for the Zivil army to overrun so there must be another motive for them being sent there. Closer to the riverside, the party notices the terrain become more swamplike and tribes of goblins with lizardfolk are seen. Strangely, they seem to have weaponry of advanced artificing to which they should not have access. They are patrolling the eastern swamp beds. After a full day's travel, the party finds the caves of the Norns. A shanty town lies in ruins around the cave's entrance, which is ringed by dwarven runes. They enter the cave. Inside, the cavern leads to a doorway with primordial earthen script framing it: "This is the home of the Norns. Speak the name of our children's home." Flint realizes that they mean Nornodheim. They speak the word aloud and the stone door grinds open for the party. Inside, three pools of murky water surround an ancient well, long abandoned and covered in moss. Something moves beneath the water, approaching the party. Quickly, three massive slimy tentacles emerge into the cavern, one from each pool. In a grotesque display, each tentacle splits open to reveal the form of a different woman. The women are wearing barnacled clothing and resemble water-logged corpses or merfolk. They speak in resonant voices that echo through the cave walls. They are the Norns: the fateweavers of the forest. Each party member steps forward to receive their fate. The smallest and most rat-like of the three reads the prophecies from stone tablets that they hand to each party member after reading them aloud.
Melinoe's first prophecy is scratched out like an error was made with a permanent marker. The plinth is broken and slashed. Her second prophecy reads:
Strattora refuses to take her second tablet, leaving it at the Norn's feet. Bemused, the creatures take the stone back and the tentacles drag it deep underwater. Gale refuses to learn his fate altogether. Melinoe stays behind to protest her prophecy. She tells the Norns that she was 12 years old and simply wanted to live. How could she be held responsible for what that meant? The rat-like Norn mocks her, telling her that her past act of selfishness was a miscalculation for them. They read the event wrong for the first and only time. She is comforted by one of the Norns. It tells her that "She is not done yet", and that "just as there was an error then, so too is the hand of fate mutable." Finally, the remainder of the party leaves the cave and steps back out into the misty riverside air, ruminating on their fates.
Over the day, the party flies their bats dozens of miles towards the eastern riverbank. They notice that the chieftain's assessment of the eastern lands was correct: they would be no trouble for the Zivil army to overrun so there must be another motive for them being sent there. Closer to the riverside, the party notices the terrain become more swamplike and tribes of goblins with lizardfolk are seen. Strangely, they seem to have weaponry of advanced artificing to which they should not have access. They are patrolling the eastern swamp beds. After a full day's travel, the party finds the caves of the Norns. A shanty town lies in ruins around the cave's entrance, which is ringed by dwarven runes. They enter the cave. Inside, the cavern leads to a doorway with primordial earthen script framing it: "This is the home of the Norns. Speak the name of our children's home." Flint realizes that they mean Nornodheim. They speak the word aloud and the stone door grinds open for the party. Inside, three pools of murky water surround an ancient well, long abandoned and covered in moss. Something moves beneath the water, approaching the party. Quickly, three massive slimy tentacles emerge into the cavern, one from each pool. In a grotesque display, each tentacle splits open to reveal the form of a different woman. The women are wearing barnacled clothing and resemble water-logged corpses or merfolk. They speak in resonant voices that echo through the cave walls. They are the Norns: the fateweavers of the forest. Each party member steps forward to receive their fate. The smallest and most rat-like of the three reads the prophecies from stone tablets that they hand to each party member after reading them aloud.
"A great many trials await you ahead.
You will kill your father and take his power for yourself.
Your hunger will not be quenched, and it will spark a maddening fire. A flame to burn a great city."
"In the land of endless night, you will find yourself bound in chains.
A free spirit begets a free body, and the hawk of twin colors will release you.
And when the devil comes, be ever vigilant or be devoured."
"The roots nurture the tree, thorned and bloody they may be.
Your kin will embrace you once more after a great deed is complete.
You will break a great pattern as the Dial strikes its final mark."
"A second soul awakens in you, and its greatness will slowly consume you.
When its bannermen come to your door, they will seek only your mortal shell for the taking.
And when the devil comes, steel your body or see it shattered."
Flint
"Your body is fractured, stretched thin, and pale.
Your oath will be tested and you will fail.
The death of a disciple will be your breaking."
"You will be forged anew across the Sea of Glass, under mountain fires warm and foreign.
A kingship awaits you there, but your kin cannot become your countrymen.
And when the devil comes, guard your heart or have it stolen."
Melinoe
Melinoe's first prophecy is scratched out like an error was made with a permanent marker. The plinth is broken and slashed. Her second prophecy reads:
"A severed thread of fate must be mended by you who cut it.
You will find a stone of prophecy beneath the Sea of Glass.
On a bloody night, look up to the full moon and pull from it, Death.
And when the devil comes, hone the blade to kill him."
Strattora
"Your kin have come, though never for you.
A beast slumbers in storm. You will choose your own ruin over its waking.
Your noble heart will take the spear for another."
"Revolution brings with it two flames. One of life and one of death.
You will stand at a precipice many times over, diminishing with each new labor.
A final grasping hand will drown you, and it will be that of a friend.
And when the devil comes, run."
Strattora refuses to take her second tablet, leaving it at the Norn's feet. Bemused, the creatures take the stone back and the tentacles drag it deep underwater. Gale refuses to learn his fate altogether. Melinoe stays behind to protest her prophecy. She tells the Norns that she was 12 years old and simply wanted to live. How could she be held responsible for what that meant? The rat-like Norn mocks her, telling her that her past act of selfishness was a miscalculation for them. They read the event wrong for the first and only time. She is comforted by one of the Norns. It tells her that "She is not done yet", and that "just as there was an error then, so too is the hand of fate mutable." Finally, the remainder of the party leaves the cave and steps back out into the misty riverside air, ruminating on their fates.
